Five months after having experienced one of the greatest moments of my musical life, I bring you documented proof. Below are a few select videos from the Alberta Rose Theater in Portland, OR. If you can’t see it on my face, I assure you, this was a very special evening. Enjoy.

OFTEN & MUCH

BEST LAID PLANS

CANNONBALL

Download the studio version of Cannonball

ROME TOMORROW

Download the studio version of Rome Tomorrow

RADIATE

Download the studio version of Radiate

Please join me today for the Kink.fm Noon Tunes in Pioneer Square, PDX. Noon sharp.

Yep, for one hour, Tyler Stenson and the Elegant Folk, will be filling the downtown air with roughly the same set list as Alberta Rose Theater and although this won’t be an intimately seated auditorium, it will be a sunlit outdoor amphitheater swarming with Oregonians enjoying the rare, 80-degree day.

Kink.fm Noon Tunes w/ Tyler Stenson
@ Pioneer Square PDX
Tuesday August 2nd, 2011

If you work downtown or are simply passing through the city, I hope you’ll join me and the Elegant Folk for your lunch break. After all, this is a rare opportunity to soak up the sun and catch a full band performance.

See you soon.

I will be opening for Chris Isaak TONIGHT at the Oregon Zoo so consider this last call for Chris Isaak tickets! Grab a friend and join me for this.

Tyler Stenson & Chris Isaak
@ the Oregon Zoo
Friday July 29th
7pm

GET YOUR TICKETS HERE

I will be playing a solo set from 7 to 7:30 and then Mr. Chris Isaak himself will be taking stage shortly after at 8pm. Please join us for a very special evening of music and maiden voyages.

See you soon!

I’ve played many gigs in my life — both large and small — but I was truly honored to be invited to play at the Weiden+Kennedy Lunch Box Concert Series at their home base offices in Portland, OR. Oh, what fun we had.

Because Wieden+Kennedy is a world-class ad agency, they thrive on good vibes and care very much about the morale of their workforce. Therefore, in short, the Lunch Box is a showcase designed to entertain Wieden+Kennedy employees on their lunch break — to keep things fresh and spirits high.

I played an hour of music as workers came and went — some stayed for the duration of my set and some simply poked their head around the corner between meetings. Regardless, I had fun and feel my sound was well received. Check out this video that someone snagged of me playing The Road from my album Bittersweet Parade!

Thank you to the folks at Wieden+Kennedy, you were wonderful and I sincerely thank you for your energy, your hospitality and your approving applause. Can’t wait to be invited back!

READ THE FULL W+K POST ON THE WIEDEN+KENNEDY BLOG

I was recently invited into the studios of MetroEast Community Media and KZME Radio to film a performance and interview segment known as Music on the Air. In all, we filmed a 30-min episode that features five live performances and interlaces some of my interview responses regarding the Portland music scene, my stint in Nashville, my upbringing, etc. Fun stuff.

Thank you John Lugton and the MetroEast crew for your hospitality and for supporting local music. You do a good service to the community.

Enjoy the video embedded below or visit their Blip.tv site to watch.

THIS EPISODE WILL AIR JULY 11, 2011. TUNE IN.

SET LIST:
1. The Road | buy now
2. That Moon | buy now
3. Often & Much | coming 01.01.12
4. Best Laid Plans | coming 01.01.12
5. Better Be Us All | buy now

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:
MetroEast Community Media | Community Television and Beyond
KZME Radio | music where you live

Today is the day — the day I proudly and finally release a batch of songs into the world that I’ve been massaging since 2003. Although I previously released this same group of songs in 2008 on See That Gleam, I was simply unhappy with the end product and schemed for years a way to do them their justice.

Therefore, in 2011, I bring you Another Gleam — a complete re-recording of See That Gleam, only this time done right.

Enjoy this 4-minute preview of my new and improved 47-minute album.

BUY ANOTHER GLEAM ON CD BABY!!

In late 2006, two very gracious friends of mine surprised me with a plane ticket to Europe, providing me with a monumental opportunity to feel another breeze and lay beneath another sun. The trip changed my life. And, because this gift was given out of the complete kindness of their hearts, I felt mine shift and soften as their Big Hearts made mine grow.

This song is my very humble way of saying, Thank You.

Below is a video discussion of the behind-the-scenes background of Big Hearts, track #1 on my new album Another Gleam — a revealing look at the inspirations, the meanings behind the song, the songwriting process, the recording experience and much more. Enjoy.

BUY ANOTHER GLEAM!!

BIG HEARTS
by tyler stenson © 2007

Heaven knows I’d wait to feel another breeze
And to lie beneath another sun;
Deep down in your love.

Big Hearts are filling up the hemispheres.
Big Hearts are warming up the coldest years.
They’ll lie beside me forever more
Because Big Hearts make mine grow.

It’s growing everyday
And softly resting miles away.
I swear Heaven was exploding there-
It was filling up the air.

Big Hearts are filling up the hemispheres.
Big Hearts are warming up the coldest years.
They’ll lie beside me forever more
Because Big Hearts make mine grow.
Big Hearts are Full Moons and Northern Lights.
They come full circle-
They defy science.
Big Hearts are freight trains that push me along
They hold onto the tracks even when the wind is strong.
Big Hearts are factories of Godlight Beams
That just get brighter as the daylight completely recedes.

BUY ANOTHER GLEAM!!

While perched on top of Mt Pilatus in Lucerne, Switzerland, I had the opportunity to observe some of the most beautiful scenery one could ever behold. In all, there were three sources of beauty; the elegant alps in the distance and Lake Pilatus below … where the water looked like Cellophane, reflecting stars back into space and [her] eyes looked that way to me.

Below is a video discussion of the behind-the-scenes background of Cellophane, track #2 on my new album Another Gleam — a revealing look at the inspirations, the meanings behind the song, the songwriting process, the recording experience and much more. Enjoy.

BUY ANOTHER GLEAM!!

CELLOPHANE
by tyler stenson © 2007

From the tops of mountains
We collide with clouds above the sea
And down below they disappear
(But I’m not convinced they were ever there)
Cause the water looked like cellophane,
Reflecting stars back into space,
And your eyes look that way to me.

Where we are, the hills are green
And elegant as anything we’ve seen
And Pontius and Pilatus lay beneath the waves
Of their water graves and
The water looked like cellophane,
Reflecting stars back into space,
And your eyes look that way to me.

So, where we are, the hills are green
But the white in your eyes is all I see
Because it seems the world is a perfect sphere
And that all things beautiful are gathered here
And the water looked like cellophane,
Reflecting stars back into space
And your eyes look that way to me.

Ah, look there, see that gleam?
It’s the sun and your eyes the beam.
All out streams rise off your face-
All I see is all your lace.

BUY ANOTHER GLEAM!!

In 2003, my brothers and I were all independently going through our share of difficulties in this life; trying to climb an endless hill with seemingly no end in sight. With this heavy burden in my mind and in my heart, I quietly wrote a song that was never intended to be heard by anybody but them — a motivational tune in the hopes that it would spark not just one of us, but it Better Be Us All.

Below is a video discussion of the behind-the-scenes background of Better Be Us All, track #3 on my new album Another Gleam — a revealing look at the inspirations, the meanings behind the song, the songwriting process, the recording experience and much more. Enjoy.

BUY ANOTHER GLEAM!!

BETTER BE US ALL
by tyler stenson © 2007

An interesting man I know
Has the Music in his bones.
He writes the songs
But he can’t stand rock n’ roll.
His name is On His Right Hand
As he hides behind a wall
-Somebody’s gonna make it but you know it better be us all.

Older brother,
He’s the dreamer of some dreams-
He stretched out the gray and made it green.
I can see myself in him
(I’m just a little bit too small).
Somebody’s gonna make it but you know it better be us all.

Little brother,
You are not the only one-
Just don’t get burned in the Oklahoma sun.
You’re trying to get to heaven and
I’m just trying not to fall.
Somebody’s gonna make it but you know it better be us all.

I’m a music maker
Trying to make a dream
But getting there is as endless as it seems.
So, I’m gone to California
(Even if I have to crawl)
Because somebody’s gonna make it but you know it better be us all.

So, when I get to California,
I’ll be giving you a call
Because somebody’s gonna make it,
But you know it better be us all.

BUY ANOTHER GLEAM!!

Although I first heard the phrase Whistle Stop in a poetry class in 2004, it took me two years to really understand its meaning and write the song that did it justice. In the years to follow, I’ve recorded many versions but here now, in 2011, I’m proud to bring a recording to the table the stands bold and does not whisper softly the things that it wants loudly to be.

Below is a video discussion of the behind-the-scenes background of Whistle Stop, track #4 on my new album Another Gleam — a revealing look at the inspirations, the meanings behind the song, the songwriting process, the recording experience and much more. Enjoy.

BUY ANOTHER GLEAM!!

WHISTLE STOP
by tyler stenson © 2006

It’s the end of the line-
Your train rolled through the time
And now all your Graces
And your Legacies stand.
Don’t whisper softly the things
That you want loudly to be
-Be like a wave.
-Leave impressions on the sand.

Because that whistle stop is coming strong
And big machines are hard to stop.

So, I’ll leave behind use-to-be’s
And in that horizon, we’ll leave to the dirt roads
Regret and Disdain.
Every sun is going to fade
But in the morning rays
I hear a songbird singing your name.

Where it stops I can’t say
But those warm summer days
Roll by like cars on a train.
And people everywhere are looking back,
Crying on their hands
And on their knees
Because it’s the end of the line.

Your train rolled through the time
So I’ll say Goodbye to the people you know.
Don’t whisper softly the things
That you want loudly to be-
My, how your legacy glows!

That whistle stop is coming strong-
It shows no signs of slowing down for this town.
That whistle stop is coming strong
And big machines are hard to stop.

THERE ARE MANY VERSIONS OF THIS SONG:
Orange Chrome Sky (2006)
See That Gleam (2008)
Another Gleam (2011)